Calling
by Apartion
Summary: Sathestrias is now 17, and he begins to learn his place in the world.
1. Intermission

_**Four years had passed, and they had been very kind to Sathestrias in terms of his skill.**_

 _ **Nemius and Jayana watched him grow to be a respectable keyblade wielder, though they recognized that he had become a bit... prideful of his abilities.**_

 _ **Regardless, the day had come. Nemius and Jayana had discussed it for some time, and decided that Sathestrias was ready to take the warrior trials.**_

 _ **And so the story continues...**_


	2. Chapter 1 - Confidence

"What do you think, Jayana? Do you believe he's ready?" Nemius asked, sitting in a chair in his library, with Jayana standing up on the other side.

"He's got the skill, I believe that, but he is a bit arrogant. The trial masters will probably see that... maybe we should tone down his pride a bit before he goes."

Nemius' face turned to that of indecision, though it lasted but a few minutes. "He's been waiting this, I know that. I agree with you on his pride, but I feel that I shouldn't deny him his chance just because of that."

Jayana sighed and nodded slowly. "You're his master, so the decision is ultimately up to you."

Nemius stood up from his seat, and walked towards the door, telling Jayana to follow him. They headed to the back field, where Sathestrias was exercising. Noticing the two masters, he quickly stopped and ran up to them.

"I know why you're here, master. Have you decided when I'll go to the trials?"

Nodding, Nemius put his hand on Sathestrias' shoulder. "You've become a fine warrior, and I believe it's time that you earn that title officially. We'll pack some food and water, and we can leave tomorrow."

Smiling, Sathestrias leaned inward towards Nemius. "Really?! Thank you, master! I know I can do this, I've been training for this for years now!"

"I know you can as well. However, there is one thing I need to speak to you about."

The smile turned to a look of very slight confusion. "Is it about the warrior trials?"

Shaking his head, Nemius began pacing back and forth in front of Sathestrias. "As I said, you've become a skilled keyblade wielder. I know you can pass the trials based on your skill, that much is certain. Overconfidence, however, may hurt the final result."

The confusion worsened. "What do you mean?"

Jayana stepped forward. "When you go to the trials, the masters don't simply judge you based on your skill, they judge you based on your feelings and thoughts. Arrogance may prevent you from reaching your goal."

Sathestrias sat down, looking up at the sky. "I don't think I'm that arrogant..."

Shaking his head once more, Nemius knelt down to face Sathestrias. "Arrogance can prevent you from realizing that you actually have it. I can't change you by force... just remember what Jayana and myself have told you just now. I don't want you to fail because of a small detail."

"I understand, master. I'll meditate on it."

"A wise choice. Jayana and I will leave you to it. I hope you understand our concerns."

As Nemius and Jayana walked away, Sathestrias closed his eyes. "I want this... I don't want to fail."


	3. Chapter 2 - Defiance

The day had finally come. Nemius had gathered supplies for a long journey to the trials, and after several hours, they had finally arrived.

"It's been four years since we've been here." Jayana noted.

Nodding, Nemius turned towards Sathestrias. "As long as you don't let pride cloud your vision, I'm sure you'll come through. I'll go sign you in, but after that I have to take some time to speak with Jayana."

"Of course, Master."

They headed in, and looked around the room. They remembered it being less... clean. As they approached the front desk, Nemius explained to the receptionist their reason for being here, and after getting both Nemius and Sathestrias' signatures, she asked for them to wait until Sathestrias was called.

"Well, this is your time to shine, Sathestrias. I'll be outside, when you finish let me know how it went and what you faced."

Sathestrias nodded, a grin on his face. "I won't disappoint you, master."

As Nemius walked away, Sathestrias took a seat on a bench and began wondering what the warrior trials were like.

"Maybe orbs of light and darkness? No, I've already done that years ago, it was too easy. Or maybe I'll spar against a keyblade warrior?"

His wandering thoughts continued for another few minutes, until he was finally called in. He remembered the trial room well, he was too excited years ago to forget.

"Welcome, hopeful warrior. Today you will face the warrior trial, to prove your worth as a keyblade wielder. First we must know your abilities' alignment. Do you wield Light or Dark?"

Looking up at the man and his observers, Nemius quickly replied. "Both."

The man turned to his colleagues and whispered for a moment before turning back to Sathestrias. "You cannot wield both."

"Of course I can! It's easy."

"No, we are saying that you are not allowed. Choose one."

Confusion filled Sathestrias' face. "Why can't I use both?"

Shaking his head, the man replied. "To wield both elements would be to threaten the stability of our world between the realms of Light and Darkness. Now, choose one."

Hanging his head low and staring at the floor, Sathestrias was lost in thought for a moment. Nemius approved of his usage of Light and Dark, as did Jayana. He knew that if he were to abandon an element, it would disappoint both of them. So, he replied defiantly.

"I refuse to choose just one."

The man's face turned to that of anger, and he began yelling. "If you will not choose one, you will not face the trials, and you will not become a warrior!"

The reply shook Sathestrias for a moment, but he remembered Nemius' words those four years ago. If he didn't take the government's test and failed to become an "official" warrior, Nemius would not care.

Yelling back, Sathestrias began to walk away. "Then I guess I won't!"

He quickly exited the building, and walked towards Jayana and Nemius.

Turning to face his apprentice, Nemius smiled. "That was fast. What did you face?"

Shaking his head, Sathestrias sighed. "They won't allow me to choose both elements. They said I had to choose one, or I wouldn't take the trials."

"They what!? There were plenty of wielders of both in the war! This is preposterous! I'm going in there and-"

Quickly, Sathestrias cut his master off. "I don't care. I don't need a slip of paper or some government official to be a real warrior."

Breathing heavily in anger, Nemius stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I... suppose you're right. You're very skilled and gifted. I don't need anyone else's claim to be proud of you and acknowledge you as a warrior."

"I'm staying behind to figure out what's going on, Nemius. Don't worry, Sathestrias, I won't blow up at them; that would be detrimental to figuring _anything_ out."

Both master and apprentice nodded, and Nemius told Jayana they would see her at his home soon.

The journey back seemed much longer, as their thoughts and ponderings made each step seem a little slower. Eventually, they arrived at their home, both returning to their rooms.

Laying in his bed, Sathestrias closed his eyes. Though he knew he didn't need anyone's say to be a warrior, he still wished things were different. He knew what he wanted now: To change the way the world worked.


	4. Chapter 3 - Intrigue

Waking up the next day, Sathestrias didn't find his Master anywhere in the house. He stepped outside the front entrance, where he found a large helicopter, with Nemius, Jayana, and a strange man talking nearby.

"Master?" Sathestrias called out.

The three turned to face Sathestrias.

"Well, good morning." Nemius said, smiling.

Sathestrias walked over, and looked at the strange man. He was tall, in a gray suit, with light tan skin, bright cyan eyes, and short blonde hair. "Who are you?" Sathestrias asked.

"This is-" Nemius began, but was cut off.

"I am Mardin Salezyr, head of the government. Or, you could just call me the President." Said the blonde-haired man.

"The... president?" Sathestrias said, wide-eyed.

"He's come because of you, Sathestrias!" Jayana exclaimed.

Sathestrias jumped back a bit in shock. "Am I in trouble!?"

Mardin laughed. "Oh no, of course not. I'm here with an interesting offer for you, and your Master. Let's go inside, shall we?"

The four walked into the mansion, and settled at a table in the library.

"So, down to business. I've discussed the offer with Nemius and Jayana here, and I'll pitch it to you. See, I heard about your rejection at the trials yesterday - A terrible occurance. As President, I can issue executive orders, however, and I am willing to bypass standard procedure and give you your warrior title immediately... for a price."

Wary, Sathestrias leaned on the table. "What sort of price?"

"You see, teachers in the government - Not Masters for individual apprentices, but government-level teachers for our military and scientists, is growing thin. Your Master is a very accomplished keyblade wielder, one whose actions are not surpassed by many. I want to make him a government-level teacher, which would take him to the capital city where he'd live, in exchange for granting you the title."

"Master Nemius wouldn't be here anymore? Well, could I go with him?"

"No, that wouldn't be an option. Teachers get issued government apartments, suitable for only one inhabitant. We couldn't legally give you one just for you, since you wouldn't be an official."

Sathestrias turned towards Nemius. "What do you think, Master?"

"I think we should accept this offer. I could help change things like we both want, and you would be a warrior."

Sathestrias pondered this idea for a moment, and began slowly nodding. "I agree. I accept, if my Master accepts, Mr. President."

"Wonderful! Now, of course, he'll have time to pack up - About a day. Jayana here would come to the capital to get his apartment ready, and she'd be back a few days from now. I'm glad you accepted this, Sathestrias. You're an interesting young man, one that I have a feeling will go far."

The four stood up, and Jayana and Mardin departed after saying their goodbyes.

"You think this is a good idea, Master?" Sathestrias asked after turning back towards Nemius.

Nodding, Nemius sat down. "I do. I could help change the government from the inside."

"That's what we both want, Master - Change. I think you'll be the one to do it."

"I hope so, Sathestrias. I hope so."


	5. Chapter 4 - Belief

It was 5:30 A.M., and Nemius' personal flight to the capital city arrived at 6:00 A.M.

Master and apprentice shared what would be their day together for a long while, and had been speaking of the past six years' events.

"I remember when you asked me if me and Jayana had ever been together."

Sathestrias chuckled at the mention of the years-old comment. "The way you two talk to each other, especially the past four years, a lot of people would ask that question."

"Bah, I'm 48 years old now, and Jayana is 47. Our lives are half over, I personally have never had a partner, and me and Jayana are good friends. We wouldn't want to ruin that friendship."

"Hey, just keep in mind your life's half over, but your love life could just be beginning."

Nemius frowned and broke out into laughter shortly afterwards.

"Before you woke up, I sent in paperwork assigning you as owner of this mansion." Nemius explained quickly.

"You what?"

"You heard me."

Sathestrias sat there, eyes widened in shock. "Wow... thank you, Master. Why?"

"Well, it's your house now that I won't be living here anymore. It's only right you're the owner on paper, too." Nemius explained, smiling.

"Do you have your stuff ready?" Sathestrias asked.

"Yes, my suitcases are in the entrance room, ready to go when the helicopter gets here."

Nodding, Sathestrias sighed. "It'll be different here without you."

Nemius' smile turned to that of a neutral expression. "It'll be different not being here, and not having you around as well. But I will send mail when I can, and I should hope you will do the same!"

"Of course, Master."

Both looked at the clock. 5:55 A.M.

Nemius stood up, and Sathestrias followed his action. The two walked together to the entrance, and Nemius picked up his two suitcases, both walking once more outside.

The helicopter arrived just on time, and Nemius hugged Sathestrias, boarding the helicopter right afterwards.

"Take care of the mansion, and more importantly yourself, Sathestrias." Nemius yelled over the sound of the helicopter taking off.

"You take care of yourself too, Master!" Sathestrias yelled back.

And just like that, Sathestrias was alone. He hadn't been for six years, since those few minutes in a burning village where he wandered the charred street alone looking for help.

His thoughts shifted to that of the mansion itself, and he went inside. He walked up to Nemius' room, and inspected the now-empty room. Empty, save for a note laying in the middle of the floor.

Curious, Sathestrias picked up the note, and began to read.

 _ **"If you're reading this - Which I expect you to, your curiosity regarding my room will be great now that I'm not here to guard it - then I want you to know, Sathestrias, that you have succeeded beyond my hopes as an apprentice, a keyblade wielder in general, and an adopted son. I do not know what will happen when I reach the capital city; What my duties will be exactly, where I'll be living, where I'll be doing my work. But I hope to make a change from the inside.**_

 _ **I know change is on your mind, as well. The rejection you faced at the warrior trials was inexcusable by the government, but the President seems to have some common sense, from what we saw of him yesterday.**_

 _ **I hope you will train further, and I implore you to read in the library - You've had six years to read, but there is still so much left for you to explore within those thousands of books.**_

 _ **I leave with no doubts or regrets. You are ready for this, and I believe in you.**_

 _ **-Nemius"**_

Tearing up throughout the note, Sathestrias knelt on the floor and looked to the ground. In a whisper to himself, he spoke quietly:

"I won't fail you, Master."


	6. Chapter 5 - Reunion

Sathestrias had trained after reading the note the day before, and went to sleep quickly that night. He woke up early, and began tending to the house, sweeping the upstairs and moving downstairs to the entrance.

Out of nowhere, a knock on the door echoed throughout the now-empty mansion halls. Sathestrias answered after taking a minute to get to the door, and found that the visitor at the door was none other than Darric, Jayana's apprentice.

"Hey, Sathestrias. Damn, you've grown taller."

"...Darric?" Sathestrias said in confusion.

Nodding, Darric smiled. "Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Sathestrias said, moving aside to let Darric in.

Darric looked around the mansion. "Still hasn't changed. Where's Nemius and Jayana?"

Sathestrias closed the door, turning to face Darric. "Master Nemius is gone - He's living in the Capital City now, working as a government teacher. Jayana went ahead of him to prepare his apartment, she'll be back tomorrow probably."

"Government job, huh? Yeah, I quit one of those a few days ago."

Sathestrias raised an eyebrow. "You worked for the government?"

"Yeah, I was a desk person in a different trial building. Got boring, so I quit and figured I'd make my way here to see you guys."

Sathestrias smiled. "Well, it's good to see you. You can stay for now, if you want."

"Sounds good. You rank up yet?"

"What, you mean become a warrior?"

Nodding, Darric chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I mean."

"Yeah, I did. I'll explain later, I have to finish sweeping."

"For sure. I'm gonna go out to the back yard, if you need me I'll be there."

Nodding, Sathestrias picked up the broom and continued sweeping as Darric made his way outside.

After about half an hour, Sathestrias finished the bottom level, and went outside where Darric was. He found Darric swinging his keyblade and apparently practicing acrobatics in the open field.

"Training?" Sathestrias asked.

Panting, Darric put his hands on his knees and leaned over, sighing. "Yeah. I try to keep myself fit by exercising every day."

"That's what I do, too."

Standing up straight, Darric grinned. "Wanna spar?"

Blinking for a few moments, Sathestrias asked curiously: "Spar? What do you mean?"

Looking strangely at Sathestrias, Darric replied. "Uh... spar. You know, practice fighting each other."

Sathestrias was excited by this idea, and accepted. Darric walked backwards a bit, and readied his keyblade as Sathestrias summoned his own.

The two circled each other, before Darric rushed in at Sathestrias, raising his keyblade above his head and quickly bringing it down.

Sathestrias blocked the attack, and pushed Darric back, running at him and slashing horizontally, which Darric jumped backwards to avoid.

As the two stared at each other waiting for the other to make a move, Sathestrias narrowed his eyes. Noticing this, Darric threw his keyblade at Sathestrias.

Swinging upwards at the thrown keyblade, Sathestrias knocked Darric's weapon into the air, which Darric leaped up to grab. He descended downwards from mid-air and landed behind Sathestrias, swinging around.

Ducking and rolling, Sathestrias tripped Darric to the ground and quickly stood up, readying himself.

Darric jumped up to his feet and slid forward towards Sathestrias, attempting to trip him this time, which failed as Sathestrias jumped over his sparring partner.

Facing each other after Darric stood back up straight, Sathestrias slashed at Darric, and the two began trading blows, blocking and attacking, over and over. The two finally ended up caught in a struggle to see who could push who back, of which neither were successful. Jumping back, Darric dismissed his keyblade.

"You're good, for not knowing what sparring is."

Grinning, Sathestrias dismissed his own keyblade. "Thanks, you're good too."

"Try to jump more, that could help your attacks and dodges."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

"I'm hungry. Got any food and water?" Darric asked, walking towards Sathestrias.

Nodding, Sathestrias started walking back into the mansion. "Yeah, follow me."

The rest of the day entailed lunch, talking about the past four years that had gone by, and finally, heading to their rooms to sleep.

Sathestrias was glad he didn't have to be alone another day. He had an old friend with him, and things weren't as gloomy.


	7. Chapter 6 - Boredom

The two warriors woke up around the same time. Darric walked Sathestrias through a simple exercise routine to start the day, and the two had breakfast.

While eating, a dark corridor appeared in the middle of the kitched, which both young men reacted to by jumping up and summoning their keyblades.

Jayana walked through, and went wide-eyed as she realized she was being held at blade-point.

"Whoa, boys, whoa-...Boys? Darric, is that you!?" Jayana exclaimed.

The two realized it was her, and dismissed their keyblades. Darric hugged Jayana, smiling. "It's good to see you again, Master!"

"It is! When did you get here?"

"He showed up yesterday." Sathestrias explained.

"Oh. Well, that's good that you weren't alone this whole time. Nemius is settled into his apartment, it's pretty big. Government people get nice stuff, furniture, homes, you name it." Jayana explained as she sat down.

"Let me get you something to eat, Jayana." Sathestrias offered.

Jayana nodded. "Fruit, if you don't mind... a nice few strawberries sound good."

Sathestrias nodded back and fixed up a small bowl with a few strawberries in it, and placed it in front of Jayana.

"You scared the crap out of us, Master." Darric said, laughing.

"Darric, watch your language. I hope four years hasn't turned you into a hoodlum." Jayana said, frowning at her apprentice.

"Of course not. I'll try to watch what I say, sorry." Darric replied.

"Master Nemius left me with ownership of the house." Sathestrias told Jayana.

"He told me, congratulations! It's going to be strange without him here." Jayana said sadly.

Sathestrias nodded, and Darric frowned slightly.

"I have to clean up the house, you and Darric can catch up." Sathestrias suggested.

Master and apprentice nodded, and Sathestrias grabbed a broom and started his daily cleaning routine. Within an hour, he had finished, and found Jayana and Darric in the library.

"Such a collection, I still admire it after four years of living here." Jayana exclaimed.

Darric had picked up a yellow book and was intently reading it in the corner.

"It is a pretty big collection. Master Nemius said the last time he counted, he had over seven thousand books in here."

"There has to be more than that." Jayana said. She browsed the selections, and found a book to her liking. Now, Sathestrias was the only one not reading. He sat down, wondering what he was going to do today.

His days for the next year were much the same. Things simply were not the same without Nemius, and life lived over a year was boring and dull, with no excitement. Sathestrias wished something would happen, and unfortunately, a year from that day, he would get what he wished for...


	8. Intermission: Prelude to Disaster

_**Days were predictable for the next year, dull and uneventful. Darric and Jayana were welcome friends, but sparring and reading became repetative.**_

 _ **Sathestrias kept wishing something would happen, anything, to make things more bareable. He was dissatisfied with life, but would soon find that his dissatisfaction with doing nothing would be better than his soon to come fear and uncertainty...**_


	9. Chapter 7 - Invasion

It seemed like it would be another normal day. Breakfast was eaten, and the day started off as every other: In the library.

All three keyblade wielders were reading their book of choice for that hour, when an ominous rumbling echoed throughout the entire mansion.

"What was that?" Darric asked.

Jayana looked around. "I'm not sure." She stood up, and walked into the front entrance, and within a minute Darric and Sathestrias heard her scream.

The two ran into the front entrance, and found a swarm of heartless surrounding Jayana. They drew their keyblades and began hacking away at the heartless, as did Jayana. Rushing them from the upper level, heartless poured out of the rooms above.

"I'll figure out what's going on up there, clear out the bottom level!" Jayana exclaimed. She fought up the stairs, and went down the left upper hall.

Darric and Sathestrias fought their way to the back yard, which was filled with what seemed to be a small army of heartless. They noticed the two men, and began running at them. Darric rushed in, whirling his keyblade around as Sathestrias jumped over him and into the swarm, cutting his way through them.

"Get out of the house!" Jayana screamed from an upper window. Darric and Sathestrias made their way to the front entrance, and escaped the house with heartless running after them.

"Luckily the books are protected from magic!" Jayana yelled.

"What do you mean?" Sathestrias asked.

Pointing her keyblade towards the mansion, a beam of light shot from Jayana's blade and hit the house. Light began to envelope the mansion, and seeped into it through the windows. A massive flash made seeing into the house impossible, and when the light faded, Jayana fell to her knees, panting heavily.

"They should be destroyed, now." She said weakly.

Darric knelt to see if Jayana was okay, as Sathestrias went wide-eyed at portals from the realm of dark opening around them.

Jayana noticed as well. "Sathestrias, you-you have to seal the house, and we have to get out of here."

"How do I do that?"

"The doors are shut, push the end of your keyblade against the door handle, and it'll seal the mansion. We can come back later and open it, we just... we need to get-get out of here, now!"

Sathestrias followed Jayana's orders, and sealed the mansion. As he performed the sealing, the house became covered by a bright white glow. Jayana attempted to get up, but couldn't.

Sathestrias drew his keyblade and jumped to Darric and Jayana's side. "I'll try to open a corridor!"

"No, Sathestrias you-... Oh damn it, we have no choice. Be careful doing it!" Jayana warned.

Sathestrias pointed his keyblade towards the ground, and a beam of darkness shot out, forming a portal from the ground up. Darric helped Jayana in, and Sathestrias followed as the heartless closed in on them.

They ended up on a gray bridge, with the abyss gazing upwards at them. The portal closed, and Darric looked around. "Now what do we do!?"

As they looked for a possible path elsewhere, a faint voice echoed through the darkness.

"Do you hear that?" Sathestrias asked.

"...Barely..." Jayana said, finally able to stand up.

The voice spoke once more, loud enough this time to be made out into words.

"Below..." It said.

"Below?" Darric asked. "What does it mean by that?"

Sathestrias looked down into the darkness. He knew it wasn't an endless fall - he'd been down there before, and he had hoped he'd never have to go back, but he felt it was necessary at this point. "We have to jump down." He explained.

"Are you insane?!" Darric yelled.

"I'll go down myself, but I'm going down there regardless." Sathestrias said.

"We'll... go down with you, Sathestrias." Jayana said. Sathestrias nodded, and the three held onto each other as they lept off the bridge, and descended into the darkness.

For a few minutes, they fell into the shadowy below, faster with each passing second. Finally, they slowly landed. The area was strangely free of heartless, and they looked around aimlessly for a few minutes.

Jayana pointed forward from her position after fruitless inspection of the dark, when two glowing yellow eyes neared the group.

"Something's coming." She exclaimed.

And indeed, something came. It was a single small heartless, and walked up towards them slowly, as to not incur their wrath.

It stared intently at them for a few moments, gazing at only Sathestrias after a minute.

Sathestrias knelt down, and held his hand out slowly.

"What the hell are you doing, Sathestrias?" Darric asked.

"Shh, it doesn't seem violent." He explained.

The heartless walked up slowly, and tapped Sathestrias on the hand. It turned around, and began slowly walking. It stopped, and looked over it's shoulder, nodding.

"It wants us to follow it, I think." Sathestrias said.

"If it's not viciously attacking us, down here it might be our only way towards whatever voice we heard." Jayana said.

The three followed the heartless, and they were led towards a darkglowing cavern of sorts, with a small lake to the left of them, right outside the lake.

"You made it," Said the voice, obviously feminine now that they could hear more clearly. "Good."

Out of the cavern came a woman in a black robe, with a hood covering her face.

Darric drew his keyblade. "Who are you?"

The woman pulled off her hood. She had long, purple hair, and was quite pale-skinned. Her eyes were a dull red, and she looked towards the group, slightly smiling.

 _"My name is Shivana."_


	10. Chapter 8 - Surprise

Sathestrias went wide-eyed. "Shivana? But... that's Master Nemius' master's name."

Jayana, too was wide-eyed. "How is that possible? You're supposed to be dead!" She exclaimed.

"Says who?" Shivana asked coyly as she walked towards them.

Darric kept his keyblade out. "Any funny business and I'll cut you to pieces."

Shivana chuckled. "Any funny business and I'll have my heartless give you a bath in the dark lake."

"Darric, don't taunt her." Jayana said, very concerned.

"Master Nemius said he thought you were dead..." Sathestrias said in awe.

Smirking, Shivana walked up to a still somewhat weakened Jayana. She put her hand on Jayana's shoulder, and an aura of darkness covered Jayana. Within seconds, it went away, and Jayana sighed and stood up. "I don't know what you just did, but I feel better. Thank you." She said, looking towards Shivana.

"Nemius found out he was wrong."

Jayana raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, he found out? He knows you're alive, now? For how long?"

"A few days, in the between-realm's time. Things above were starting to concern me, so I contacted him.

"What's going on that got you to talk to him after so long?" Sathestrias asked.

"Your government is gathering huge masses of Heartless and Angels. I've watched and seen them be gathered every now and then, but a capturing of this magnitude is... disturbing, to say the least." Shivana explained.

Jayana looked very concerned. "What are they doing with them?"

Shivana shrugged. "I'm not sure. But it's cause for great concern, and I contacted Nemius and told him of what I'd seen. He told me to retrieve Sathestrias, and you two happened to be brought along for the ride."

"You know who I am?" Sathestrias asked, curious.

"Of course I know who you are, boy. I've been watching everything from down here, most especially my old apprentice and what he was doing all those years. So yes, I know who you are."

"How do you watch everyone?" Darric asked, finally speaking up.

"I see through the shadows. The shadows are everywhere." Was Shivana's vague response.

Jayana looked out at the lake, and then back to Shivana. "So were you the one that sent all those heartless to the mansion?"

"Yes. I needed a way of getting you all to come into the realm of darkness. You were never in any real danger." She said, chuckling.

"You scared the crap out of all of us, lady." Darric said angrily.

"Oh, boo-hoo, you were scared, boy. Something big is going on above, and Nemius wanted me to help by bringing Sathestrias here. You can leave if it's too scary for you." Shivana said in a mocking manner towards Darric.

Darric looked down, with an upset look on his face.

"That's what I thought. Now, we can start things up." Shivana said, smiling slightly.

"How?" Jayana asked.

"Sathestrias' training is incomplete. I'll help finish it. Helping your apprentice wouldn't hurt, either..."

Darric simply said nothing as Sathestrias looked at Shivana, confused. "Won't that take years up above?" Sathestrias asked.

"Months. Time doesn't move as fast as you think it does down here. Things are going fast up there with the gathering, but you have time enough to finish your business here and move on."

"Move onto where?" Jayana asked, very confused as well.

"That's a surprise."


	11. Chapter 9 - Darkness

Over the next few months in the realm of darkness, Sathestrias was subject to harsh training with using the darkness, as was Darric. They were pitted against mobs of heartless by Shivana, and made to spar with each other often.

Shivana's methods of training were intense, but proved to be effective. Sathestrias' grasp on the darkness tightened, and he alone was taught by Shivana to quell the heartless, to a degree. Darric was simply too inexperienced with the darkness to learn something of that sort, which Jayana understood when it was explained by Shivana.

The three learned more of Shivana as well during this time. She had fought in the Keyblade War before the realms invaded to protect her friends and family, including Nemius. She grew very tired of fighting near-constantly against light-wielders, and she decided with her friends' and family's advice to retire.

She only revealed to Nemius where she would be going, though. When she came to the realm of darkness, she expected to die quickly, which she had made peace with beforehand. But, to her surprise, she was able to survive.

Her natural affinity with the darkness caused the heartless to see her as one of their own, and she gained a sort of control over them that allowed her to keep watch over the realm she once called home.

She had created the lake that existed outside of the cave she lived in, to act as a window of sorts. Through this lake, she saw what her heartless in the shadows saw, and kept up with the world's goings-on until she finally was deeply disturbed by the mass capturing of heartless and angels, which led to her contacting Nemius.

She revealed to Jayana, her and Nemius' friend Garret's fate. He had found his way to Shivana's cavern, incredibly injured, and she attempted to tend to his wounds, though they proved too great. She kept him company in his last hours, until he passed away and was swallowed by the darkness, as was it's nature with those who had passed within it's realm.

She spoke with Jayana in private often, and when she was having Sathestrias and Darric train on their own, she helped Jayana in her own wielding of darkness, though she could not help much, as Jayana's natural element was light.

The day came, after months of this, when Shivana declared Sathestrias and Darric's training to be near-complete.

 _Near_ complete, she stressed.


	12. Chapter 10 - Assault

"What do you mean, near complete? We haven't learned enough?" Darric asked, confused.

"You've learned a great deal about the darkness and how to use it. But darkness isn't the only element." Shivana explained.

"You mean the light? We have to train with that?" Sathestrias asked.

Shivana nodded. "Yes."

"And you'll help us?" Sathestrias asked once more.

"No. I cannot assist you in using the light - I am one of the darkness, and my usage of light is incredibly limited... but I know a way you can master the light. It is very dangerous, though."

Jayana sighed.

"What's wrong, Master?" Darric asked.

"She knows because I've told her. You need to go into the realm of light." Shivana said.

Sathestrias was taken aback. "The realm of light? But... no one's gone there and lived."

"Thus why it's very dangerous. You can attempt to deal with the situation as you are, which I highly suggest you don't, or you enter the realm of light and learn more there."

"Well how the hell are we going to get into the realm of light?" Darric asked.

Shivana smirked. "Entering the realm of light is much harder than entering the realm of darkness. There is a portal, though. One that's heavily guarded."

"Where is it?" Sathestrias asked.

Jayana stepped forward. "She's told me about it. When one of the Seraphim died, it left a strange type of portal where it was killed, and the portal is guarded by government masters."

"So we have to go up against the government? We don't even know what they're doing with those heartless and angels. Really not worth it, in my opinion." Darric said.

Shivana scoffed. "They're rounding up thousands of unstable beasts of pure light and darkness, and that's not worth investigating and preparing for? They're building armies. Armies of keyblade wielders, and armies of heartless and angels. I assure you, it's not for any peaceful reason."

Jayana nodded. "I agree. It's disturbing, and wrong."

Sathestrias, too, nodded. "It's strange. Something that we need to figure out."

Shivana stepped towards the lake. "I can send you as close to the portal as possible, but you'll be out of the way quite a bit, still. The areas around the portal are guarded, so you'll have to find a way past the security, somehow."

Sathestrias nodded. "Thank you, Master Shivana."

Shivana laughed. "Master Shivana. Now I haven't heard that title paired with my name in a long time."

"Will we see you again?" Sathestrias asked.

"Not for a while. It's too dangerous for me to contact you while you're so close to enemies, and I can't reach you in the realm of light." She explained as she fired a beam of darkness into the lake.

The lake transformed into a giant portal, with a desert wasteland on the other side. "Go," she said, "And set things straight."

The three nodded, and jumped into the portal.

They fell into the desert, and the portal that was above them in the realm between disappeared. They stood up, and looked around. They were in front of a large set of sand-covered hills, and there was nothing but wasteland in front of them.

"Well what do we do now?" Darric asked.

Jayana held out her hand, and a white glow emitted from it. On the ground, a white line formed and began trailing off into the distance. "We follow that line, it'll take us to the greatest source of light nearby, which has to be the portal."

Sathestrias and Darric nodded, and followed Jayana. They arrived near a large, fortified keep of some sort, where they were spotted from ahead by guards.

"Halt. This is a restricted area, state your reasons for being here."

Darric stepped forward. "We're here to see the portal."

"There is no portal to anywhere here, turn back." The guard demanded.

Jayana sighed and began to turn away, but quickly kicked around and knocked the guard back. Two guards behind him drew their keyblades as Jayana, Sathestrias, and Darric did the same.

The knocked down guard jumped up, and summoned his keyblade, and the three guards rushed them. Jayana backflipped a ways, while Sathestrias and Darric began slashing at the two guards on both outsides.

The middle guard ran at Jayana, and began firing bolts of light at her, which she blocked. She fired a large blast of light at the guard, knocking him out.

Darric and Sathestrias teamed up on one guard at a time, and with Jayana's incoming help, knocked the two remaining guards unconscious.

The three moved forward, and Sathestrias stopped them near a bush.

"I'll cloak us in shadow, so we don't get swarmed by guards." He whispered.

"Good idea." Darric agreed.

Sathestrias emitted a dark glow from his hand and covered the group in shadow, which rendered them invisible.

They made their way into the keep, and found their way downwards, until they reached a basement guarded by five keyblade wielders.

They couldn't simply sneak past this time. Jayana asked Sathestrias to lower the cloak, which he did, and immediately they were noticed and surrounded.

"Let's get these guys quick." Darric said, holding out his hand.

Jayana and Sathestrias nodded, and they put their hands together, summoning a large wave of light and dark that burst out, knocking back and out the guards that had them surrounded.

They went through a hallway, at the end of which was a large, pure-white portal.

"This is crazy." Darric said.

"Never thought I'd see the day I went into the realm of light..." Jayana said.

"We have to go in, we can't go back now." Sathestrias said.

The three steeled themselves, and walked through the portal, into the realm of light...


	13. Chapter 11 - Light

The three keyblade wielders emerged on the other side of the portal. They looked around, at the most beautiful thing they had ever seen in their lives.

The sky was white, with silver and gold clouds floating above them, and there were towers of ivory and bronze in the distance.

"This is the realm of light..." Jayana said in amazement.

They began walking, with no angels in sight. They reached a large gate, which they stared at in wonder for a minute.

"Should we open it?" Darric asked.

As Sathestrias approached the gate, Jayana squealed for a moment before being cut off. Sathestrias and Darric quickly turned to face her, and saw that she was being held, mouth covered, by a light tan-skinned man.

His hair was dark green, and was in a topknot. His eyes were yellow, and he was wearing ragged black clothes. He looked to be mid-20s, and had slight scruff on his chin.

"You idiots!" He whispered.

"Let my master go!" Darric yelled.

"Quiet down, boy, or you'll draw them out!" The man whispered again.

Sathestrias nodded towards Darric, and the two slowly approached Jayana and the man.

"Follow me." He said, slowing taking Jayana with him away from the gate.

They followed the man until they reached a small makeshift camp. The man let Jayana go, and she turned to him, eyes wide.

"You're alive!?" She exclaimed.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"You... don't recognize me?" Jayana asked.

"...You look kind of familiar, but I can't tell."

"It's me, Jayana! You're... you're Zeris, right?"

"Jayana? From Squad 85B?" The man asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Zeris?" She asked.

"Zeris is one of your groupmates, wasn't he, Jayana?" Sathestrias asked.

"That's me." The man said, pointing to himself with his thumb.

Jayana quickly hugged Zeris.

"I can't believe you're alive!" She said in happiness.

"How the hell I'm not dead yet beats me, but I'll keep fighting these angel sons of bitches until they're all gone or they kill me, whichever comes first." Zeris explained. "Now why the hell are you here?"

"We came so mine and Nemius' students can train with the light. Nemius' master said this would be the best place to complete their training with the light."

"Shivana's still alive? Well shit." Zeris said, chuckling.

"He doesn't watch his mouth, does he?" Darric said, smirking.

"He never did. Same man even after 30 years." Jayana said, smiling at Zeris.

Zeris went wide-eyed. "I've only been in here thirty years?"

Jayana raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'only' thirty years?"

"Feels like it's been longer, even though I haven't really changed at all, physically at least. If you're saying I've been in here only thirty years, time must go a hell of a lot slower in here."

Sathestrias sighed in relief. "We won't waste much time in the inbetween realm training here then. Can you help us train with the light, Zeris?"

"Nope. Don't know a damn thing about the light." He told Sathestrias.

"You've been in here thirty years and don't know how to use the light?" Jayana asked.

"I'm sick of the light. Don't ever want to use it." Zeris explained.

"Well how are we going to do this, then?" Darric asked, woefully.

"Think, Zeris. How can we help these boys with figuring out how to use the light better?"

"Uh... shit, I... Well I don't know how to teach them, or if there's even anyone in here besides you that could teach them... Hm. Wait, hold up. It's not a way of teaching them, but these angels, they have these stones they've been gathering. Filled with light or some shit, and they've been piling them somewhere past that gate we were all at. Drain the power from them, you might not learn much, but your power will go up, I'm sure of it."

"That could be enough, if I top off their training with the last bits I know that could help them." Jayana said, nodding.

"So how do we get the stones?" Sathestrias asked.

"I've been scouting out this place for years and still haven't gotten in. My keyblade won't work on the gate, being dark and all. We could have Jayana use her keyblade to open the gate possibly, but I gotta warn you, there's a shit ton of angels in there. If they're taking a bunch of shit there, then my money's on a Seraphim being there, too."

Darric went wide-eyed. "Seraphim? Those huge angel commanders that killed keyblade masters?"

"Yep, those're the ones." Zeris said, acknowleding Darric's statement.

Sathestrias sighed. "We have to go in, anyways. If we have to fight a Seraphim... we have to fight a Seraphim."

Zeris grinned. "I like this boy. He's Nemius'?"

"Yeah, he is." Jayana said nodding.

Zeris chuckled.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go kill some angel sons of bitches."


	14. Chapter 12 - God

Arriving at the gate, Jayana drew her keyblade. She fired a beam of light into the gate's huge lock, which unlocked, causing the gate to open. On the other side were, predictably, many, many angels. They turned to face the intruders, and readied their weapons.

Zeris charged in first, firing volleys of dark bolts at them, killing off several quickly. Sathestrias and Darric rushed in, doing the same as Zeris, with Jayana behind them, who began slashing away at the small army of angels.

Within a few minutes, they had cleared the courtyard. They made their way to the end of the courtyard, where an entrance to a gigantic tower was.

Zeris kicked down the door, and they rushed in. They looked up, seeing a near-endless staircase, and began to make their way up.

As they got further up, angels began swarming down the stairs at them, which they fought through.

They continued this for what seemed like hours, until they reached the top of the tower, which was completely empty, save for a gem embedded into the wall on the other side of the room.

Sathestrias neared the gem, and looked back at Zeris, Jayana, and Darric. "If I get teleported touching this gem, come after me."

They nodded, and sure enough the gem teleported Sathestrias away. The three remaining tried to teleport to him, but the gem simply did not respond.

Sathestrias was teleported to a large square room, with a large, glowing white face embedded into the wall staring at him. It looked to have a stone-like beard, and eyes that seemed like a white, endless abyss if they were stared into.

"What in the..." Sathestrias exclaimed in disbelief as he looked at the face.

The face spoke, it's voice bellowing and echoing throughout the room. "Why are you here, human? Why do you kill my children and swarm my home?"

"You... can talk?" Sathestrias asked, as he slowly neared the face.

"I have asked you a question."

"I... I came here with my friends, to learn how to use the light better. We want to use the stones you all gather to raise our power."

The face was silent for a moment, but eventually spoke again. "First you steal my children, then you come for our power itself?"

"No, no!" Sathestrias said quickly. "We're here to stop the others from rounding up angels. Who... who are you?"

The face closed it's eyes and sighed deeply, filling the room with a cold breeze. It opened it's eyes, and gazed at Sathestrias. "My children call me God."

"You're... a god?"

"No. It is what I am called. I am the father of my children, and I give them guidance." The face explained.

"I think I understand." Sathestrias said, nodding slowly.

"You said that you wish to stop my children from being stolen from me?"

Nodding, Sathestrias came closer to 'God.' "Yes. We want to set things straight with all the realms."

"I see. I am desperate to keep my children safe and at home. If I give you the lightstones, you must ensure that my children are returned safely here."

"I promise you, I'll make sure the angels get back here alright." Sathestrias said, nodding.

'God' looked to the right, and the wall became transparent, revealing many stones. Sathestrias walked over towards them.

"I will take you, the lightstones, and your friends whom I sense in the tower, outside of the gate, and open a portal for you back to your realm. To use the stones, crush them. Their power will be yours."

"Thank you. I appreciate this." Sathestrias said, bowing.

Sathestrias was teleported with the stones back to the tower, where he appeared with them and a white spirit.

"Sathestrias!" Jayana exclaimed.

"What in the hell is this thing?" Zeris asked.

"This is the angels' father. He's helping us." Sathestrias explained.

"I will take you outside of the gate, and open the portal to your realm. Be prepared now." The spirit said.

Within moments, the four were teleported outside the gate with the stones, and the spirit opened a portal to the inbetween realm. The stones floated into the portal, followed by Jayana, Zeris, and Darric.

Sathestrias looked back at the spirit. "Thank you."

"Save my children." It said, as the portal closed behind Sathestrias.


	15. Chapter 13 - Return

When they went through the portal, they ended up on a mountain trail, which Sathestrias recognized.

"We're not far from the mansion! This is one of the trails I hike across for exercise."

"Hot damn, I'm out of that hellhole, finally!" Zeris exclaimed cheerfully.

Jayana picked up a bunch of the stones. "Let's get these back to the mansion, then."

Zeris, Darric, and Sathestrias picked up the rest of the stones, and they hiked down the mountain trail, until they reached the still-sealed mansion.

They piled the stones together, and Sathestrias went up to the sealed mansion, and used his keyblade to unseal it. He opened the door, and the four took the stones inside, and out to the back yard.

Sathestrias took a stone in his hand. "He said to crush them, and we'll get their power."

Darric picked one up, and squeezed it as hard as he could, to no avail. "It's too tough to crush."

Jayana summoned her keyblade. "By hand, maybe. Try smashing them with your keyblade." She suggested, picking one up and throwing it in the air, swinging her keyblade at it and smashing it into dust.

The dust glowed, and surrounded Jayana, disappearing as it went towards her.

"I feel... refreshed." She said.

Taking no time in following Jayana's lead, Darric and Sathestrias did the same, and agreed that they felt they had more energy and felt stronger.

They continued doing this as Jayana and Zeris watched.

"These kids are really something." Zeris commented.

"They're really talented. They might just set things straight."

"What the hell is going on that they need to set straight?"

Jayana sighed, realizing she would have to explain everything. As Darric and Sathestrias continued, she explained what happened after the war, and situation they were currently in. Zeris was amazed, and disappointed by the end of the revelation he received.

"They're at peace, but they just have to go and build an army of monsters? I can't believe it." Zeris said, sighing.

The two were interrupted by Darric firing off what appeared to be a huge blast of light into the air.

"Oh wow! It worked!" Darric exclaimed.

"What in the world was that?!" Jayana asked.

"That was a regular bolt of light! Just like you taught me, Master!" Darric replied.

Sathestrias tried as well, and achieved the same results. "The stones definitely work. You take some, Jayana. You could use them just as well as we can."

Jayana nodded, and began smashing the stones herself. This continued for ten or so minutes, until the stones were gone.

"We'd better make the most of these." Jayana said.

Zeris then suggested Jayana spend the next few days finishing their light training, which she agreed was the best course of action.

Over three days, Jayana taught them to use the light to heal, to teleport, and to attack. For Darric, it wasn't much he didn't already know, but for Sathestrias, it put into place the last piece of his training.

Sathestrias was now prepared, he felt. It was time to find Nemius.


	16. Chapter 14 - Fading

"Stand back." Sathestrias said as he drew his keyblade, pointing it to the ground.

A beam of darkness flew out of it, and formed a corridor. After looking back to Zeris, Jayana, and Darric, the four nodded and stepped through the portal.

Yet again, a gray bridge was where they ended up. Sathestrias looked downwards, at the abyss he knew now was not endless.

"Shivana!" He called into the darkness. "We need to talk with you."

After ten to fifteen seconds of silence, a large corridor opened behind the group.

"Think it's the old lady's corridor?" Zeris asked.

Jayana sighed and stepped forward towards it. "Only one way to find out." She said, stepping through. Zeris followed, with Darric next, and Sathestrias last.

They arrived at the lake, as they assumed they would. Shivana came out from her cavern, and greeted the group.

"I see you've brought along someone else." She commented.

Zeris chuckled. "I remember you, old lady. You're something else, you know? Surviving this deep in the darkness."

Shivana smirked. "I have to actually commend you on surviving for thirty years in the realm of light. It takes an idiot to rush into the realm of light, but it takes a warrior to survive once they're inside."

"I just did what I had to do to survive." Zeris explained.

"Shivana," Sathestrias said stepping forward, "We got what we needed from the realm of light. We need to find Master Nemius now. Can you help us?"

"I can. I should tell you before you go that Nemius' contact with me hasn't gone unnoticed. He's had to stop, or his higher-ups will forcibly stop him."

Sathestrias frowned. "What about the President? Can't he do something?"

Shivana sighed. "I don't know what your President is or isn't doing. Where he's at, I can't see for some reason. I've seen him, but it always goes out before-" Shivana stopped suddenly.

Darric stepped forward. "What's wrong?"

Shivana looked upwards, with a visibly concerned look on her face. "Get in the cave."

"What?" Zeris asked.

"Get in the damned cave, NOW!" Shivana ordered, drawing her keyblade.

The four rushed into the cave, and looked out from the darkness.

A man in a white robe landed in front of Shivana, with two archangels at his sides.

"What do you want?" Shivana demanded.

"Master Shivana, it's truly a pleasure." The man said slowly.

Shivana snarled. "Tell me what you want or I'll remove you from this realm by force."

"What I want, I won't have to tell you to get." The man said, chuckling. He drew his keyblade, and jumped back as the two archangels rushed Shivana.

With a large blast of darkness, the creatures were vanquished, but just in time for Shivana to see a portal open up through which dozens of angels swarmed in. Shivana quickly hacked at them, firing dark bolts often, but the angels seemed to be endless.

Within a minute, swarms of heartless came to Shivana's side, and held off the angels long enough for Shivana to retreat into the cave.

"We have to get out of here." Shivana said quickly, opening a corridor.

"You're coming with us?"

"I have no choice. I-" Shivana's words were interrupted as a keyblade made it's way through her gut. She looked down in shock, as blood began seeping from her mouth. Looking up at Sathestrias, she whispered. "Go."

Darric and Zeris went through, and Sathestrias screamed. "No! NO!" He yelled, drawing his keyblade as the white-robed man pulled his own from Shivana's stomach. Jayana grabbed Sathestrias and pulled him through, though Sathestrias fought greatly to get away.

The robed man frowned slightly as the corridor closed before he could go through. He looked down at Shivana afterwards, his frown changing to a grin. "You can't help them now." He said as he walked away.

Shivana rolled over onto her back, blood gushing from her stomach and flowing from her mouth as she coughed. Her eyes squinted as she fought to keep them open.

The angels had departed with the man, and heartless surrounded Shivana. She closed looked at the small one, which had previously led the group to Shivana. She reached out weakly, and petted it's head for a moment before speaking.

 _"Let them take me. Let me fade away, at last."_

Shivana closed her eyes, and the heartless dragged her to the lake. As they laid her in the lake, she took her final breath. Her body sank into the lake, and began to fade into the shadows, as the heartless looked on.


	17. Chapter 15 - Expectance

The four exited the portal into a large apartment. Sathestrias fell to his knees and began crying, slamming his fist into the floor.

Jayana knelt down and put her arm around him. "We won't let them get away with this, Sathestrias."

Zeris stepped foward and looked down at Sathestrias. "We'll get 'em, kid. But you gotta push through and wait until it's over to cry."

Sathestrias looked up at Zeris, then over to Jayana, tears still flowing from his eyes. His look of sorrow turned to that of anger. "This just became personal." He said, trying to stop sobbing.

Darric held out his hand to help Sathestrias up, which was accepted.

"Where... where are we?" Sathestrias asked.

Jayana looked around, and nodded. "This is Nemius' apartment... but he's not here."

The front door's doorknob wiggled, and the group drew their keyblades, ready to fight.

Nemius walked through the door and looked at his friends with confusion in his eyes. He quickly shut the door, and walked in as they dismissed their keyblades.

"What are you three-...Four? Is that... no, that's impossible. Zeris?" Nemius asked in awe.

Nodding Zeris stepped forward. "It's me, but we've got news for you."

Nemius looked over to Sathestrias. "Your training is complete, I assume?"

Sathestrias nodded, his eyes red from crying still. "It came at a price."

A look of confusion came over Nemius' face. "What do you mean?"

Jayana walked forward and put her hand on Nemius' shoulder. "Shivana is dead."

His mouth hung open, and eyes went wide. Nemius couldn't believe what he was just told, and turned around, looking down at the floor.

"How...?" He asked.

"Some guy in a white robe came into the realm of darkness with a bunch of angels," Darric explained, "and when Shivana came to open a corridor for us, the guy stabbed her through."

Nemius swung around, looking intently at Darric. "White robes? Damn it, that's standard issue master's wear! This goes beyond the government trying to just build an army, now!"

Sathestrias looked concerned. "What do we do, then, Master?"

Nemius sighed, and scratched his chin. "This is a matter of great concern, even moreso now. There's only one person I feel we can trust to find out more."

"The President?" Sathestrias asked.

Nodding, Nemius walked to the door. "He's been very kind and understanding, and he seems wise beyond his years. If something of this nature is going on, it's going on behind his back. We have to let him know." He explained as he opened the door.

"Are we just going to walk out there with you?" Jayana asked in concern.

"That's the idea. They've been trying to get to you, why wouldn't they allow you to be taken further into the capital?"

Zeris chuckled. "Subtlety in the eyes of the public."

"Exactly." Nemius said. "Now, come with me."

They exited the apartment into a hall, which they walked down for a few minutes before reaching an elevator. Nemius pushed a button, and within a few seconds the door to the elevator opened, and they stepped inside.

The elevator closed behind them, and Nemius pressed another button to take them to the top level.

Zeris looked at Nemius, and chuckled. "You got old, man."

"Thirty years will do that to you." Nemius said, barely able to crack a smile. "You still look like before."

Sathestrias sighed sadly, and Nemius put his hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "I don't want to believe she's gone, either. We'll figure this out... we have to." He said as they reached the top floor.

The elevator opened, and they stepped through. They walked down a hall until they reached closed double doors guarded by four white-robed masters.

"Master Nemius," One robed woman said as she stepped forward. "What is your business here?"

Clearing his throat, Nemius motioned to the group he had with him. "I've brought these people here to be seen by the President."

Nodding, the woman and a man on the other side opened the doors. "You may enter."

Nemius walked in, a bit surprised it was that easy. The doors closed behind him and the group, and Mardin stood up from his desk.

"Ah, what do we have here? Nemius, Sathestrias, Jayana, Darric, Zeris... I've been expecting you."

Nemius' face turned to that of concern. "Expecting us?"


	18. Chapter 16 - Sacrifice

"Well, yes, of course. You've all made quite a stir, you know. Meeting with Shivana, storming a government keep to get to the realm of light. I was expecting you to come to me at some point."

Sathestrias stepped forward. "You know about all of this?"

"Of course I do. I know everything that goes on in my nation."

Nemius pushed Sathestrias back, and walked up to Mardin's desk. "There are some things I don't think you know yet, Mardin."

Raising an eyebrow, Mardin came around to face Nemius. "What would they be?" He asked, looking intently.

"Masters have been rounding up huge masses of heartless and angels, and they just killed Shivana!" Nemius exclaimed.

"They're doing what now?" Mardin asked. "Come with me, we need to leave this room."

Mardin walked to the exit, and the four masters guarding the door watched the entire group leave.

"I'll ensure this is dealt with, Nemius." Mardin said.

Nemius looked over at Sathestrias. "I told you we could trust the President."

Sathestrias nodded.

"Perhaps your trust is misplaced." Mardin said as snapped his fingers. As he continued walking, four more masters portaled in behind him, stopping Nemius and the others from continuing on.

"Mardin!?" Nemius yelled.

The President turned to face the group. "If it hadn't been for Shivana, all of this would have transpired so peacefully. But, now that you know... if you're planning on trying to fight against my plans, I'll simply have to remove you from the picture."

"You knew about all of this? What are you trying to do!?" Sathestrias yelled.

"I'm trying to shape the world into something that works faster. Paperwork and legalities hold back power in a government, but against an army, paperwork and legalities cannot stop the formation of an empire." Mardin explained.

"You want to turn the world into a damned empire?" Nemius asked, angrily.

"Things would get done so much easier and faster. Wouldn't you want it that way, Nemius? You never have been a fan of the way things work right now."

"Not if it means people have to be oppressed and killed by an army of monsters! You won't get away with this, Mardin."

Mardin chuckled happily. "I beg to differ. Now, I have a lunch to attend. I bid you goodbye." He said as he walked away into a portal made by one of the four masters behind him.

The five drew their keyblades as the eight robed masters surrounded them. Jayana and Nemius faced towards the office they just left, and Zeris, Darric, and Sathestrias faced towards the hallway leading to the elevator.

The eight masters fired a beam into the ceiling above the group, to which Nemius responded by forming a barrier of darkness around them.

A beam of light struck down at the barrier from the ceiling, and continued for a minute before ceasing and disappearing.

Nemius let down the barrier and charged towards the office, slashing horizontally and knocking back three masters while one lept backwards.

Zeris, Darric, Jayana, and Sathestrias rushed the masters in the hallway, each taking on one of their own.

Nemius quickly blocked the barrage of hacks and slashes made at him by the four masters on his side, jumping back and firing a volley of dark bolts at them to knock them back.

Zeris drop kicked the master he was fighting, while Jayana and Darric worked together to defend each other from the two masters they were each fighting. Sathestrias lept forward into the hall and faced his own opponent, who charged at him.

He blocked, and kicked forward, which the master rolled backwards to dodge. Meanwhile, Nemius slid into the office and used the doors as temporary shields, before they were blasted to pieces. He dodged one master's slash as the other three made their way into the office.

Zeris fired a beam of darkness at the ground, which formed a portal on the ground that his opponent fell into.

Darric, Jayana, and Sathestrias pushed their enemies into the portal, and Zeris closed it quickly.

They rushed to the office, where Nemius was continually blocking three of the remaining masters' attacks while the fourth opened a portal of his own. Within seconds, reinforcements arrived, and Nemius rolled back into the hallway.

"Go, go, go! We've got to get out of here!" Nemius yelled.

The five ran down the hallway, with at least a dozen enemy masters following them. Zeris slammed on the button for the elevator, which didn't open immediately.

"Damn it!" Zeris yelled. He ran back into the hallway where he stood beside Nemius to guard Jayana, Darric, and Sathestrias while they waited for the elevator.

Jayana looked towards Zeris and Nemius, eyes filled with fear and concern.

Zeris looked back at Jayana, and then towards Nemius as the elevator opened and the three behind them rushed in. "Only one of us two is getting out of here."

Nemius looked over at Zeris, and nodded. "I know."

"At least I'll be useful again, for the last time." Zeris said, chuckling.

"No, old friend, you'll help for longer than that." Nemius said as he grabbed Zeris by the shirt and threw him into the elevator.

"Master!?" Sathestrias yelled out.

"Go." Nemius said. "I'll hold them off."

Jayana began to exit the elevator, but between blocks, Nemius blasted her back in. "See this through! Don't let Mardin get away with this!" He yelled back.

"Nemius, no!" Jayana cried out.

The elevator closed as a dark aura formed quickly around Nemius. As it left the top floor, Nemius jumped back, the aura gathering in greater and greater expanse.

"If I'm going down..." He said as the masters rushed at him. "...Then you're going down with me!" He yelled out. With a scream, Nemius released the aura around him, which resulted in a huge explosion. The top of the tower was blasted open, and the masters caught in the blast were wiped away by the explosion.

As Nemius held onto the explosion to ensure all of the masters there were taken, his hands and feet began to be swallowed by darkness that seeped up his four limbs. The shadows covered his torso, and made it's way up to his head as a tear rolled down his cheek.

The darkness enveloped Nemius, and the explosion faded away after a few minutes, leaving behind absolutely nothing.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had this planned for a long time. Nemius was a beloved character, I know, but to move the story forward, I decided he had to die. His death will come as a shock to people reading, and in the story, it's a shock to all of his friends, but it's exactly the occurrence needed to push the story forward into the next part of the series.**

 **I've never written a character much like Nemius. He was fun to write, and I'm sad that I have to kill him off, but it's something I feel is needed for the story's series. Calling has one chapter left, and then we move onto Remembrance, and afterwards, Serenity.**


	19. The End of the Beginning: Vengeance

As the elevator descended, Sathestrias wildly slammed on the button to go back up to the top, yelling angrily.

"Up, damn it, up! Go up!" He screamed.

Jayana and the others couldn't believe what just happened. When the elevator reached the bottom floor, Sathestrias was able to get it to go back up to the top, and after a few minutes, they arrived. The elevator opened, leading into a wallless, roofless top floor, with globs of shadow spread across the floor.

"Master!?" Sathestrias called out as he ran out of the elevator. "Master, where are you!?"

Jayana stepped out, and tripped over something on the floor. She picked herself up, and looked down at what she'd tripped over, and her eyes widened as she began crying.

Sathestrias turned around to see Jayana kneeling on the floor, holding Nemius' keyblade in her arms as Darric and Zeris looked down in shock.

Sathestrias shook his head. "No... No, no, it's not possible, no!" He yelled, running over and falling to his knees. As he stared at Nemius' keyblade, tears streamed from his eyes.

"Damn it, Nemius..." Jayana cried.

Zeris knelt down. "That should have been me..." He said, with guilt in his voice.

Jayana looked at Sathestrias as she sobbed, holding out part of Nemius' keyblade. Sathestrias took hold of it, and the two cried together, tears dripping onto the weapon.

The day turned to night as the four keyblade wielders mourned their now-departed friend. Jayana stood up finally, picking up Nemius' keyblade. "Stand... up, Sathestrias." She asked.

Nodding slowly, Sathestrias rose, his eyes sore and red.

Jayana offered Nemius' keyblade to Sathestrias. "This belongs... to you, now." She said.

Sathestrias stared at the keyblade for a moment before accepted it, and held the hilt in his right hand, as he traced his left up the blade itself.

"I told him I wouldn't fail him... and I did." Sathestrias said, sorrow abundant in his voice.

"You haven't failed him, and you won't if you don't give up, Sathestrias." Zeris said, stepping forward and putting his hand on Sathestrias' shoulder.

Darric spoke up finally, looking at Jayana. "What do we do now?" He asked.

Jayana looked towards Sathestrias. "What do you want to do?"

Sathestrias looked down at the floor for a moment. "We can't go back to the mansion. They'll be after us, and look for us there. And I... I want revenge on these damned sons of bitches for what they did to Shivana and Master Nemius." He said, anger resounding in his voice. He looked up at Jayana, rage on his face. His eyes had changed color now, and were a crimson red. He hooked Nemius' keyblade to his side, and walked to the edge of the top floor, looking down at the city below.

"We're taking on the whole damn establishment, then?" Zeris asked.

Sathestrias nodded, eyes still gazing down at the capital. "We're going to stop them, and avenge Shivana and Master Nemius."

Jayana stood beside Sathestrias, looking up at the raven-colored night sky. "I'll be by your side."

Zeris took his place at Sathestrias' left. "I'm in this too."

Darric nodded slowly, and stood to the right of Jayana. "Looks like we're four people against an empire.

Sathestrias looked up, towards the moon in the distance.

 _ **"Not an empire. Not yet."**_


End file.
